One Day

Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew, casual acquaintances during their university years, spend graduation night together. It’s July 15, 1988, and their futures are up in the air. Dexter, the handsome, confident son of a well-to-do family, knows only that he wants “to be successful. . . . to live life to the extreme, but without any mess or complications” [p. 9]. Emma is determined to stay true to her left-leaning passions and ideals though she has little idea of how she’ll do it. They part the next day with vague promises to keep in touch as Dexter sets off to travel the world and Emma returns to her working-class family in Leeds to figure out what she’ll do next. Over the next twenty years, they’ll think about each other, sometimes to meet and reignite a relationship that neither can give up nor explain. One Day revisits Dexter and Emma every year on the anniversary of their first night together. Each July 15th becomes a snapshot of a particular time and place, offering an irresistible and often hilarious chronicle of the lovers they acquire, the careers they pursue, the culture that influences them, and the opportunities they embrace or squander. As their stories unfold, David Nicholls brilliantly explores the interplay of character and fate that shape our lives. Emma Morley和Dexter Mayhew在大学中偶然相识，共同度过了他们的毕业之夜。那是1988年7月15日，两人的未来都悬而未决。Dexter这个来自于富裕家庭的自信、英俊的男孩，只知道他未来的梦想是“想要成功…过刺激的生活、但不要有混乱和曲折。”Emma决定面对自己左倾的热情和梦想，但她也不知道该做些什么。第二天他们分开，Dexter去环游世界、Emma返回自己在英国利兹的工薪阶层家庭思考未来做些什么，在分别前二人模糊地约定保持联络。在接下来的20年中，两人挂念着彼此，有时见面重燃这种既不能割舍又难以解释的关系。 《一天》记录了Dexter和Emma两人在20年的跨度之中是如何度过7月15日——他们的纪念日——这一天的。每年的7月15日就像一个特定时空的快照，为我们展示了他们的恋人、事业、周边环境、获得或者是浪费掉的机会的编年史，使观众被深深吸引、经常忍俊不禁。随着他们故事的展开，我们看到了性格和命运会如何塑造我们的生活。

David Nicholls trained as an actor before making the switch to writing. He is the author of two previous novels—Starter For Ten and The Understudy. He has also written many screenplays for film and television, including the feature film adaptation of Starter For Ten and One Day. He lives in London.